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  • Essay / Lord of the Flies - 728

    When watching Lord of the Flies by William Golding, readers can notice both good and evil in each character. Golding wrote this novel to demonstrate that humans are evil and need the constraints of society to maintain social order, but the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau states that a person is naturally good but is corrupted by the company. Set during World War II, Golding's novel centers on a group of British boys aged six to twelve whose plane was shot down and were left to survive on an island. On this island – far from the laws of England and the rules of school – boys had the freedom to do as they pleased, but most boys became wild and violent, proving Golding's belief that evil of a person is kept. in order to be true by the restrictions of society. Rousseau's belief is defined by the term state of nature, which in this case is hypothetical. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophy of human nature states that individuals are good but are made sick by society. According to Rousseau, the idea of ​​uncorrupted human beings is realized when individuals are freed from the grip of property, law, and moral inequality. Modern society has allowed unnecessary needs to become a necessity, which then creates the idea of ​​inequality that leads to desires other than the need to survive. Because property is now part of human needs, it has become an element of survival, and therefore of corruption. To be completely free from society, man must also be free from the law, because it is part of a society. On the other hand, Golding's philosophy states the opposite. William Golding believes that society, laws and morals keep the evil of human beings in check. Living through World War II, Goldin...... middle of paper ......th book, Roger drops a large rock from the cliff which hits Piggy, killing him. This proves that Golding's philosophy is still true. When this group of English boys were on the island, they were not subject to any rules and yet they became savages. They were free from society and yet they killed brutally. Rousseau states that if freed from the constraints of society, man would not be corrupted. What happened on this island is not in Rousseau's favor. That said, it makes perfect sense to agree with William Golding. Humans possess evil within them, but society, rules, laws, orders, and morals help individuals avoid corruption. Without the law, it is very likely that individuals will do selfish things and become corrupted rather than transforming into an ideal person who only needs to survive. Golding's Lord of the Flies is an extreme but formidable depiction of human nature..